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When not to trust a GPSr

This has become an ongoing problem with my GPSr. What do you folks think?

All to often I try to find the exact location before I start looking. When I find the location Girlmate has usually already found the cache. When I look at the accuracy of the GPSr it can be usually +/- 20 ft. frequently it is more than a 40 ft radius that the cache is in. I have A Garmin 60c. I wonder if the problem is the operator, Any quick fixes that you suggest and Yes the WAAS is on.

Here is my ideas on this. The coordinates are only as accurate as the GPS of the person that placed the cache. If he did not get a good set of coordinates then you GPS may be reading right where his might have been wrong or vise versa.

If you have a 60C which is suppose to be a good GPS then maybe the person that placed the cache had a crappy GPS and did not get accurate coordinates.

Of course another alternative once the cache is found is to determine your own coordinates, post information on the geocaching.com site log, invite coroboration, and then come to a consensus as to whether the lats/longs. were correct in the first place or whether your GPS is inaccurate.

Here is my ideas on this. The coordinates are only as accurate as the GPS of the person that placed the cache. If he did not get a good set of coordinates then you GPS may be reading right where his might have been wrong or vise versa.

If you have a 60C which is suppose to be a good GPS then maybe the person that placed the cache had a crappy GPS and did not get accurate coordinates.

Good point, and since we've got the new GPS, we've taken both the new and the old out a couple of times and they NEVER agree to within 20 feet.

I usually try to watch both the GPS and for likely locations about 100 feet before I arrive to a cache site.

If the cache is often more than 40 feet away when you have 20 foot accuracy, something can't be right. We have a few caches with poor coords, but for the most part they are not bad, definitely not 40+ feet bad. I don't even have WAAS and I'm much less than 40 feet more often than not.

Is the datum set right, WGS84? (I would assume it is the default)

If your GPS supports averaging, maybe it's hasn't caught up to you get. I know some Magellan's have this problem, I have heard some slow down when they get about 100 feet away and let the GPS settle so they don't overshoot the area.

We should set up a few areas in the state where reception is good where people can set there GPSr and compare coords. Like on the bird bath at Thomas Hill Standpipe.... Or the first stage of Stacked On StillWater....or maybe we're just better off with the standpipe.